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August 11, 2014

Ceasefire Media Fail

How hard is it to tell when a ceasefire is broken?Aren’t there thousands of eyewitnesses?

In fact, all of the ceasefires have been broken when rockets
were fired from Gaza into Israel.

So why the misleading language?

“Gaza Attacks Resume as Ceasefire Expires; Truce Talks Up in
the Air.” That’s the LA
Times on the latest ceasefire. If you read carefully, almost between
the lines, you can figure out that Israel did not break the ceasefire.But it is as if the paper is trying for lack
of clarity, casting doubt on the story even as it tells it, and using quote
marks around “terror sites,” as if these might be something other than terror sites:

The Israeli army spokesman’s office said in a statement that
“terror sites” across Gaza had been targeted following the resumption of
Palestinian rocket fire. Hamas disavowed responsibility for the initial volleys
of rockets after the cease-fire’s end, with smaller Palestinian factions
claiming to have carried out the attacks.

At least two projectiles were intercepted by Israel’s
antimissile system, with others falling in open areas in southern Israel.

Since the Iron Dome intercepted two “projectiles,” that is,
rockets, there really isn’t a question about who broke the ceasefire. A
“smaller faction” of Gaza terrorists rather than the larger faction, Hamas, still
clearly means the attacks are coming from
Gaza though the headline suggests attacks on Gaza or that the ceasefire expired due to actions from both
sides.

Similarly—but more so—The Guardian’s headline, “Israel and
Hamas Resume Attacks as ceasefire talks remain deadlocked” suggests that the
failure of the talks caused the fighting to “resume” rather than the refusal of
Hamas to continue the ceasefire. The
Guardian also uses quotes around “terrorist targets” to even greater
obfuscation than the LA Times, by not indicating that Hamas places their launchers and rockets in
these locations:

Israel's
military said it had hit 33 "terrorist targets" since midnight. These
included several mosques and houses across the length of Gaza.

And CNN
equalizes the ending of the ceasefire with this headline, “Israel Carries Out
Strikes on Gaza After Rocket Fire Resumes.” After twenty-four paragraphs
detailing the ongoing fighting and Hamas demands, the article does include a
quote from Israeli UN Ambassador, Ron Proser responding to UN President, Ban Ki
Moon:

"Your statement said that
you were disappointed that the parties were unable to agree to an extension of
the ceasefire. I couldn't help but notice that you didn't mention one of the
parties, which happens to be the party that violated the ceasefire. This party
has a name -- they are called Hamas."